Dark Cycle
by Darka Silvath
Summary: You know those time-loop fics where Harry goes gets stuck and has to repeat his lovely good life saving people or get together to have great slash slash sex with the males of the cast for no apparent reason? This fic isn't like those… much.
1. Breaking Point

**Dark Cycle**

-]

CHAPTER 1 – Breaking Point.

The sorting hat finished its song, clapping from the main tables began, Professor McGonagall reached down to the roll of parchment she was carrying as her eyes scanned the parchment for the first name something more sinister was occurring in the mind of a being that had aged too quickly and seen too much in only seven years of infinity.

"Diffindo." A child-like voice commented.

In the noise and commotion of the great hall, it was barley heard expect by those near to the boy-who-raised-his-finger. A thin golden line appeared across the necks of every member seated at the staff table, before every member jerked, froze, and a huge spay of blood shot forward from their throats. The heads were propelled from their bodies backwards, the line nearest to the sorting hat were covered by the spray from Professor McGonagall.

With the teachers and main protectors taken out, the boy-who-lived-to-slaughter turned his finger with a twitch towards each main prefect, and the upper-level students before once more uttering his favourite spell, well next to reducto and blatos.

"Ahhhhh!"

Ah it had started the panic, the screams, the defiance – oh wait this was the wizarding world, defiance wasn't really part of a sheep's persona. More cowering and pleading, the Slytherins had consolidated their power at the far end of the hall setting up shield charms, the Gryffindors had instead began to shield the younger years from harm with their bodies, the Ravenclaws had summoned defence shields and began to analyse the situation, the Hufflepuffs had begun to rush forward to save the first' years from the mysterious enemy.

Well can't have that can we, smirking Harry Jumped back and shot a dozen odd, levitation charms at the other first years lifting them into the air as a living shield to protect him from harm. His actions were met by silence.

-0-0-0-

"UP BOY, GET UP NOW!" screamed Aunt petunias voice from the kitchen in her horrible screech.

Harry rubbed his eyes in annoyance, he's made quite a lot of progress before the loop reset this time – it had been really relaxing to just go slaughtering everyone. A part of Harry felt sickened by what he had done, but the more rational part of him considered the fact that technically they weren't really dead and so he hadn't done anything wrong.

Not the most moral outlook but after the amount of loops he been put through so far it wasn't as bothered by his lack of relevant morals as he probably should be. What to do this time he pondered, he could just kill the Dursleys, that would be very therapeutic or he could just start mind-fucking with everyone he met maybe after he worked out some of his frustration he would feel up to trying to find a way out of the stupid loop again.

"UP FREAK! NOW!"

- BOOM –

Or maybe not, seeing as he'd just blasted the door of his cupboard into his Aunt; Harry had liked one thing about the loops when they started. They only seemed to reset when he died, this was both a blessing and a curse, in one loop he'd made it to 14 before he got oft by some German hit wizard when he was trying to free Grindelwald for fun. Maybe that hadn't been his brightest idea yet of breaking the monotony of the loops but he really needed a break.

So back to his choices, Dark Lord Killer or Dark Lord Conqueror, choices, choices…

-0-0-0-

Life was meant to be full of exciting choices. Of course Harry had been in the bloody loop so long that he'd tried every occupation he could think off. Once Harry had realised there seem to be no way of ending the loops he decided to do all the things he'd never gotten a chance to do before. The problem was now he'd done them and got no complaints, it had taken all the fun out of being able to do them. Every time he set himself up as a Dark Lord the second a key element died the loop reset, if he saved someone that died in the original time line when they should of died, the loop reset. To be honest he was fed up and bored in every conceivable way.

He simply had nothing interesting to do. He had tried to go to the Muggle world to play around but if he did that – the loop reset. He'd even tried eating a Time Turner to see if that helped, he hadn't even been able to die from the glass shards in his throat before the loop reset. If he neared death the loop would reset, if he tried to kill himself, the loop would reset. To put it simply; Harry Potter was pissed off beyond belief.

But this time he'd worked out a plan.

Absent mindedly he shot a wandless Explosive hex and blew his way thorough the kitchen wall, taking not care not to kill his relatives… well… this time. He didn't want the loop to reset, again before his plan could be put into action. He needed to wait until the zoo if he could just get there he might be able to pull off his plan, if not – well, he could try again in a couple of minutes once time reset. It did faster than he'd expected, for one thing he'd gotten so used to ploughing threw walls in a hurry he'd forgotten that it was probably not his original response on this day and had thus…

"UP BOY, GET UP NOW!"

Of course it had. "Bloody Time Loop!"

"UP BOY, GET UP NOW!"

He couldn't even swear without a reset, now this time all he had to do was bide his time. It was boring as hell and the anticipation nearly had him kill a dozen people on their way into the Zoo but finally Harry's moment had arrived. When Harry had been experimenting with the Loops parameters he had noticed that on some occasions he could get away with things that on other occasions had forced a reset. The Zoo and the Snake behind the glass was one such moment if was then he realised that the Snake was one of these Key events.

It had taken dozens of resets to plot out the Apparition Path from the Zoo's reptile house to the veil in the department of mysteries but he had finally done it. The first time he tried, he grabbed the snake, apperated and threw it through the veil to see if he would force the resets to kill him for mucking up their plan of tormenting him for eternity. During that attempt Harry would have to admit he'd been getting a little desperate for an ending. Even a smited to death ending would have been preferable but alas it was not to be.

But now he was ready, Dudley bashed him to the side, he fell and the glass disappeared, as the snake slithered out onto the floor he headed past Harry. Before it could utter a hiss, Harry's hand lashed out caught the snake and apperated himself in a free-fall position straight through the veil in the Department of Mysteries.

-0-0-0-


	2. Unwelcome Empires

Dark Cycle

-]

CHAPTER 2 – Unwelcome Empires.

-0-0-0-

Freedom. Harry was in a forest and he was free, finally somewhere new and YES! no loop reset. This was brilliant this was… "OW Bloody snake."

The snake Harry had used in his escape attempt had not been happy to be grabbed, and then thrust through a curtain into a forest in the middle of nowhere. Harry guessed that by the fangs, now painfully imbedded in his shoulder. With a blasting curse he shot the snake to pieces, then feeling a little bad used one of his time reversal spells to pull the snake back together. It wouldn't even know it had been dead. The Snake was a bit confused and looked around puzzled, Harry in a moment of weakness reached out the hand of friendship. Which led to the boa lashing forwards and biting off his fingers.

"OWW FUCK OH FUCK, OH SHIT OH OW!" Harry let lose a string of profanities getting dirtier and dirtier while the snake munched on his fingers. Apparently he'd been stuck in the ever decreasingly tolerations of the loop for too long as he'd forgotten he could just heal himself instead of waiting to die and have all his injuries reset for him. After losing most of his child's body worth of blood Harry finally performed a healing spell and fixed his fingers. Looking up he found to his deep annoyance he couldn't even see the bloody snake anymore. The Forrest around him was mostly empty but he could see a castle in the far distance.

Fixing up his clothes and transfiguring them into robes Harry set about casting a variety of wandless shielding charms. He had no real idea where he was and wasn't about to let himself get killed when he was finally free after so long. The first thing he had to do was transfigure himself into a dragon and then back again. If he set the spell on a time limit it shouldn't be a problem. Long ago when the loops were more facilitating Harry had found that if a person is transformed into an animal they are most likely to be able to take that animals form as their animagus form. Malfoy the amazing bouncing ferret had always been good for a laugh, before the loops became to difficult and boring to progress that far, without cocking something up and slaughtering someone who annoyed him. With a mumbled spell his form shifted and elongated into a terrifying black dragon, a Death-bringer as Hagrid had called them, the only Dragon he didn't want to raise. Harry liked taking the form of something even Hagrid had thought to dangerous to keep as a pet it made him feel unique and considering he had never had the ability to be an animagus in his first life or loop for that matter Harry to this form at every opportunity.

A few minutes in the transfigured form and he had, had enough he muttered the counter spell and waited… and waited and… oh bugger.

He was stuck. As a hulking great Dragon. In the middle of nowhere in a forest and was that screams? Harry's hero complex had been inactive for a majority of the time loop when he realised that saving people who would reset to being fine if he did nothing and they died, didn't bother him much anymore but here things were back to how they should be. And Harry wasn't going to sit around and do nothing. Beside he'd have a chance to test if he could breathe hell-fire or not. Seeing the bad-guys set on fire always cracked Harry up.

Rampaging through the undergrowth he came across a dirt road, two girls were being accosted by a group of men all wearing shoddy armour and wielding _swords_? What idiot used swords any more? Well other than him when he had a magical shield up and was wearing body armour just in case.

The first girl was dressed in a white dress that would make it impossible to run, the second was dressed in velvet green, she had long black hair and had picked up a sword from what must have been one of her protectors. But what startled Harry most of all was the incredible aura of power around her and what's more he could literally see hidden rune seals suppressing the power further. Not about to let these pathetic excuses for Muggles go any further Harry let lose a roar of power.

The Men turn in shock and horror, facing his great gapping jaws with abject terror. "Release the Witch now!" He roared again his voice alone was terrifying them; Harry tried not to giggle as a couple of the bandits wet themselves. The leader of the bunch turned and trembled out "Witch?" before screaming in further terror as the bandits turned and ran in all directions. Harry aimed a jet of Hell-fire at the fleeing men catching a few in the blaze while the others fled into the distance.

Turning his attention back to the two ladies he nodded in the pale white, black-haired withes direction, all but ignoring her muggle companion. "Are you all right my dear?" He posed the question carefully, he did not want to frighten them any more than he already had, and apparently getting back into his hero status wasn't going to be that hard after all. Though if he ever became as obsessed as Lockhart he was going to have to shoot himself.

"Alright?" The green coated witch asked with trepidation the muggle looked closer to curiosity than fainting strangely enough though.

"Yes, are you alright? I'd hate to think those disgusting Muggles had harmed you?" Maybe he was laying it on a bit thick but it had been simply ages since he'd been able to talk to someone who could not only reply back but would remember him and judge him on this first meeting. Appearing to recover her strength she stood taller and gazed towards him. "I thank you for your assistance Master Dragon…" Her reply sounded very official, but she didn't seem too surprised that I could talk now that was surprising. "Please my name is Harry, now if you are alright do you require and escort and may I assist?"

Surprise blossomed on their faces but I could see that the Muggle was beginning to freak out again, yet the Witch was calmly thoughtful in fact she seemed to be considering my offer. "All right we could use the help." She spoke decisively and my surprise must have been easy to see. "Milady.." the other woman gasped in horror, but was waved away with a look and a simple dismissive hand gesture. "Very Well then." I lowered my self so she could climb on my back; with a little help from my claws the Witch was secured. The Muggle hesitated before an exasperated "Oh come ON Gwen." From the Witch had her climbing hesitantly as well. "Now then," Harry queried "Which direction?"

"Head straight on please." Harry smiled and set off trying to avoid jostling the women about too much. After all it wasn't everyday he got to pick up women as a 10 year old. They had made quite a way up the dirty road track in silence before the Witch asked a question that forced Harry to stop abruptly. "Why did you tell them to leave 'the witch' alone?" He felt a tremble on his back from the muggle girl, before he continued plodding along. "Well because you're a Witch." Harry had never been that good at tact or subtly once he knew something, it was probably what made him so touchy about the time-looping towards the end when he tried to do something out of sequence that he couldn't have known unless he'd done it before. Which then caused the damn loop to reset again.

"No I'm not." This caused him to stop again, great a muggle-born with self doubts.

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not."

"Yes you _are_."

"NO! I'm not."

"Look I'm a giant magical dragon I can tell a witch from a muggle any day. You my dear are a Witch and a powerful one at that." Harry groaned now he remembered why he preferred saving guys women always seemed to have something to say or critique about his methods. Save a guy, he'd get a bit of acknowledgement and then they try to forget it ever happened.

"I can't be?"

While the Witch was puzzling over her identity the muggle on his back decided to query him on another subject. "Excuse me Mr. Dragon?" Tiredly Harry sighed, "What? And I said call me Harry." Pausing for a moment she seemed to collect herself, "Sorry, Harry but what's a Muggle?" "You." "Pardon?" She seemed to be confused, oh wait Muggles don't call themselves that do they? "You're a muggle, a human." Which reminds me "By the way what is your name, I know you called the dark-skinned muggle Gwen but I don't know what your name is."

Coming out of her self-induced stupor the Witch seemed to straighten up. "My Name is Morgana, ward of U…." While she muttered on I couldn't help wonder my life couldn't be that contrived could it? Had I just rescued a younger Morgan Le Fay? The Nemesis of Merlin, the destroyer of Avalon the most cursed name in the history of wizardry. The second I dropped them off I had to check where and when I was, because if I was right the veil had not only broken the time-loop but time itself for me to be here. Harry paused in his thoughts again; maybe he was just being paranoid. His life wasn't just some story to be re-written at the hands of fate, he was a person and he was going to do what he wanted.

And right now he fancied building himself an empire, this world seemed almost medieval in nature and Harry had enough understanding of technology to prepare himself for he planned to build. Well looked like Dark Lord Conquer is the new black this season. After all if he'd found a way into this world then maybe he could found a way out…


	3. The Time's are a Changing

Dark Cycle

-]

CHAPTER 3 – The Time's are a Changing.

-0-0-0-

"Well that went well." Harry starred up at the smoking ruin of the once-great castle; Camelot. In hind-sight arriving at said castle still looking like a Dragon might not have been his brightest plan ever, but with Dragon hide he was confidently safe against the Muggle weapons and even most brands of magic for this time period. He hadn't really thought that maybe Dragons of this era might be still well known for kidnapping maidens and eating them or ravaging towns and land with infernal bouts of fire.

Upon arriving in Camelot's outer towns he'd been met by many shocked gasps, screams of terror and the occasional, "oh look- mommy." But for the most part the first supplement had been the norm. Harry's more than unexpected arrival should have halted and been disguised there but from the majority of kids looking up at him in awe, he couldn't resist staying in his animagus form for a little longer. The closer they drew to the inner walls of the Castle the more tense the majority were and the more excited the few Wizards and Witches he spotted were. By the end they were travelling along side him, on his back he could feel the muggle begin to shake in terror while the Witch, Morgana sat up straighter in what felt like pride.

When they reached the gates he had merely snorted and the Knights guarding them trembled before fleeing in terror, at this point Harry should have done something to change his position but to be honest he really couldn't be bothered and using a quick phasing spell, continued to the astonished crowds gasps to phase through the inner citadels gates and walls with his passengers undisturbed. Making his way to the front of the Castle steps avoiding the majority of the small stalls and badly made houses he stopped before starting to bend down to deposit his passengers. He'd been forced to stop and erect a shield at the barrage of arrows that had suddenly descended on him. Now Harry had never reacted very well to being attacked and at the beginning of the time-loops he had developed a spell-based reaction time second to none, unfortunately it also had the habit of firing off high-powered explosive reducto's at any offensive target within his 20 meter range in which the guards on the battlements were.

The resulting explosions attracted the attention of the majority of the remaining Knights and drew them back into the view of the Harry-Dragon, unfortunately when Harry turned again to set down his passengers' he ended up having his tale flick a nearby blonde-knight into a wall, with cries of "Arthur" common from not only the Knights but the muggle girl on his back Harry had turned apologetically back to the Knights in time to cough from some nearby wizard thrusting a discrete spell in his face. The resounding sneeze caused a jet of white and blue fire to erupt from his nose, luckily not hell-fire though this didn't help the Knights much as they were incinerated on contact. The resounding cheer from the assembled majority of Wizards behind him was surprising though, why would they be happy with Harry decimating their own forces.

Turning from the direction of the discrete spell, Harry faced a boy that looked to be impersonating a wild-west bandit, a handkerchief around his neck and bright clothing made him look like a moving target, complete with the big ears that adorned his head he looked ridiculous. But at least the idiot wasn't wearing robes; he wondered what idiot came up with the idea of wizarding fashion anyway. Harry mumbled an apology to the cooking Knights before plodding towards the boy, at which point the Witch on his back objected rather forcefully. "No! Merlin's an ally he's not with Urthur!" Clutching still had his horned head she tired fruitlessly to pull him away. Relenting Harry slowed and pulled back a little just in time to feel the muggle girl, Gwen slide of his back. With his aura sense he could see her running in the direction of the young Knight Arthur and wait… a second. Did Morgana say Merlin? Left to his thoughts Harry gave pause again, his life could not be _this_ contrived. Merlin and Morgan Le Fay now all he needed was King Arthur to end this day and… Oh bollocks. Harry turned his head to look at where Gwen was helping the Knight Arthur to his feet, wait… Gwen as in Gwenavier wife of Arthur, the Once and Future King? Good grief had he just clobbered one of the most famous Muggles in history? Yep looks like he had.

Turning back to face the young version of Merlin Harry sighed deeply and sat down. On someone who had just emerged from the steps of the Castle. Oops. This was just not his day and by the sounds of it the people were angry with him now in fact they were, cheering? Okay… the middle ages was strange. A few cries of "NO! the King!" were drowned out by the cries of "YES, finally the King!" The Knight Harry suspected to be Arthur had just cried out towards him "Father!" and last time he checked he wasn't the Once and Future Kings father, unless Dumbledore had omitted to mention something to him… _again_.

The only other possibility was he had just squashed the current King of Camelot, trashed the Knights of the Round Table – or their fathers at the least – and set fire to the Castle's inner walls. Harry felt like crying, why does this stuff always happen to me?

-0-0-0-

"Black Dragons are forbidden here, be _gone_ from this place abomination!"

Harry had eventually escaped the celebrations of the citizens of Camelot as Magic was returned to the land (a whole 2 series earlier than expected) he was thanked, blessed and creeped out by a ugly looking red Dragon asking him to become his hatchling. Upon the arrival of the Witch Morgusae who claimed to be Morgana's sister he was having a little better of a time, even it Merlin was patting a sobbing Arthur on the back while the Muggle Gwen hugged him. Harry himself had been conversing half-heartedly with an older Wizard named Gaius who seemed to be Merlin's mentor. Gaius reminded him of a slightly less evil version of Albus Dumbledore thought Harry's perceptions of his old Headmaster had been tainted over the repeated actions of the time-loop. Eventually Harry had managed to sneak away from the festivities and made his way to a nearby lake for a drink. The next thing he knew he had stepped on an ugly looking light-blue pixie looking thing and heard a multitude of voices yelling at him "Begone Destroyer of Lives!" before he saw a bright flash of light and found himself in the centre of a temple; and surrounded by other Dragons of all mixed colours bar black.

His arrival had been met by a mixture of shocked gasps before the shouting match broke out, the last one calling for his removal as an abomination and the need to sleep and he had morphed back into his 10-year old form with his hands over his ears. Not the brightest move but he hadn't been able to sleep properly since the loops deteriorated from their original format and he just wanted to be able to sleep in peace without repeating a day or having something go wrong. The next thing he knew the noise had stopped and a series of warm arms had enveloped him. Cautiously looking up he blinked at the sight of golden haired, green robed women holding him smiling. At his innocent blinking a round of "Awe's" followed, along with "He's only a hatchling…" and "Poor thing he must be lost…" Again Harry wondered what he'd got himself in for this time.

-0-0-0-

Wyrmrest Temple was a towering structure to any mortals that dared look upon it, rumoured to be created by the titans of a bygone age it was now claimed by only three of the four dragon-flights the red, blue and green. The Blacks were forbidden from entering from the treachery they had passed down in the last war of races. It was known to house some of the greatest races on Azeroth, for these great races the times barely changed away from the world in their hidden retreat but today they had been greeted in the early hours of the morning by a flash of white light, a surge of powerful magic and the appearance of a dragon if the Black flight.

Assembling themselves quickly the red and blue flights made themselves battle-ready. Before shouting at the one dragon to appear, they had expected the first agent of the attack to retaliate but instead it had looked around puzzled before making a mewling noise and shrinking into its human form guise, from what they could sense from its form it was only a hatchling, a scared and very magically powered hatchling but a hatchling none the less. It was barely older than 10 seasons, it should not even have been out of its nest, though what the cruel Black's subjected their young to was rumoured; and then it was hardly unsurprising that one had finally left to escape the abuse of its forefathers'. The Green's were the first to cluster around the crying black and the first Awe's that left their lips as the hatchling blinked innocent eyes untouched by the maddening hatred that the Black race seemed to pervade upon their own was dispelled. The Blue's held back and scanned the area for a hidden attack, the Red's – well they pretty much just gaped at the sight of a black hatchling cuddling happily amongst a small cult of green's.

The only thing that would be needed now was a Black to come searching for its young, but as the Green's continued to comfort the hatchling, no others appeared.

-0-0-0-

Thinking back Harry had been surprised to escape from the brooding mothers, apparently where ever he was Black Dragons were a brutal race, whose children were as violent and destructive as their forefathers nevertheless Harry had managed to escape their clutches relatively unharmed – though he had to suffer through quite a few indignities' and dress-up scenarios to do it. In the end it had been a brief encounter with a being called Malygos that had speeded his exit from the new dimension, apparently Harry's own magical core was being supplemented by the beings own power and Harry was leaching off him for all the time he was spending there. Basically he wasn't keen to keep Harry around for much longer.

After a rather abrupt exit as he had been thrown bodily though a gapping white and blue crackling portal – much to the chagrin of the nesting mothers and other Dragons who wanted their 'cute little hatchling' back, Harry was freefalling and heading towards a rather black looking cloud of mist. Due to his never ending Potters' luck Harry had just landed smack-bang in the middle of the Never-Never right in the join between the Winter and Summer Lands.

-0-0-0-

"So what is this gig offering again?" Harry asked casually, he wasn't too frightened but that could be because the only fairies he'd ever encountered before were when he chopped them up for potion ingredients.

The floating begins in front of him smirked cruelly, while the stationary golden glowing ones stood off to the side. Yes Harry's descriptive skills still left much to be desired.

"We offer you protection from the Summer.." one of the golden beings began, "hold it does that mean, that joining you means I won't get hay fever anymore?" Harry interrupted quickly.

"No? we offer the courts protection against your enemy's, provided you serve us to the best of your ability." Disappointedly Harry turned to the white and blue coloured, smugly floating beings instead.

-0-0-0-

"You're going to choose the winter over us!"

"Well to be honest if I have to compare the two of your factions, the summer sounds like a bunch of hippies, with out the sex, which is hippies only redeeming qualities – well that and the drugs – but the point is,"

"We are NOT a bunch of hippies we are a proud race that has existed for well over-"

"Yeah I really don't care, then we've got the Winter which is like an army of depraved destructive sociopaths, who will all ally with me and help me seek out and torture their **and** my enemies', they don't want my soul."

"We don't want your soul either though!"

The Winter Fae that had introduced herself as Queen Mab interrupted, "did we mention our realm is eternal winter?"

"No pollen?"

"None that would effect you."

"Sold to the floating lady in blue!"

-0-0-0-

While Harry was only doing this to annoy the aghast representative from the White Council behind him seeing the looks on the Summer Fae's faces for choosing Winter over Summer on the grounds of their being no pollen present was priceless. Though it did mean he would need to leave this dimension a bit sharpish, his spell wouldn't hold out to long and then the occupants of this reality might notice he was an apparent fictional character here if the broom-stick jokes that Dresden fellow had been getting at were enough.


End file.
